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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23562268">Singing without a pretense</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/girlwithabird42/pseuds/girlwithabird42'>girlwithabird42</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Once more for the ages [13]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Uncharted (Video Games)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Family Bonding, Family Feels, Gen, In-Laws, Roasting, siblings by choice, video game shit talking</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-04-09</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-04-09</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-18 07:34:35</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>5,056</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23562268</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/girlwithabird42/pseuds/girlwithabird42</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Elena never had a brother, Sam never had a sister.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Elena Fisher &amp; Samuel Drake, Nathan Drake/Elena Fisher</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Once more for the ages [13]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1289426</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>6</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>48</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Singing without a pretense</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Dinner is only partly cleaned up when Nate and Sam walk back into their makeshift living quarters.</p>
<p>Elena’s been too anxious about the outcome of their conversation and while she was pretty sure it wouldn’t come to blows, she can never be too sure with Nate and frankly, she has lower expectations for Sam.  Neither of them sport bruises though and Nate shoots her a small grin Sam can’t see.</p>
<p>Elena exhales.  Good.  Whatever Sam needed to say to Nate has been said and they can finally start to really put all the events of the past few months behind them.</p>
<p>But Elena still wants to take one final shot at giving Sam some grief.  It’s only fair, if a bit petty.</p>
<p>“I’m getting more beer,” she says to no one in particular, bending in front of the open fridge.</p>
<p>“I’ll take another too,” Sam says with a resolved look on his face.  Nate definitely told him about Elena’s plan to drink him under the table.</p>
<p>“How many is that so far?” Elena asks as she passes him a bottle.</p>
<p>“Just the one.”</p>
<p>“Good, so we’re even,” she says as neutrally as possible, but Sam ruffles nervously at her comment.  Now Elena has even more than home turf advantage.  Sam may be a twig, but he towers over her and she needs ever bit of help she can get if they’re serious about this.</p>
<p>“Go easy will you?” Nate says to the pair of them.</p>
<p>“Not a chance,” Elena chuckles.</p>
<p>Except there’s no easy resumption of their dinnertime discussion; just a hanging uncomfortable silence.  Elena wonders if it was this awkward after she left in a heartbroken and near finished rage in Madagascar.</p>
<p>After a sip, Sam clears his throat.  “So how’d you two crazy kids meet?”</p>
<p>Elena casts a side glance at Nate.  “He sort of conned my old show into funding his El Dorado expedition.”</p>
<p>“I told you that –” Nate protests indignantly.</p>
<p>“Not that you lied to this poor woman –” Sam catches the unimpressed look on Elena’s face.  “But I mean he did mention it.  Talked about you a whole bunch when we first caught up.”</p>
<p>“Nice save,” Elena smirks at the pair of them.  “Was that before or after you lied about Hector Alcazar?”</p>
<p>Sam’s jaw snaps shut then he quickly downs more beer to prevent himself from having to answer right away.</p>
<p>Elena feels a little guilty this line of questioning isn’t going to do anyone any good, not when everyone’s starting to feel okay.  She’s determined to hold Nate for good this time and she does genuinely want to get to a good place with Sam.</p>
<p>“Forget it,” she waves him off before he can respond.</p>
<p>“It’s fair game, I can take it,” Sam protests.  “It was before.”</p>
<p>“Would you do it all again?” Elena leans slightly over the table, trying to get a closer look.  She knows Nate’s answer, but is curious about Sam’s.</p>
<p>Sam looks at her and then Nate, who leans back in his seat, trying to distance himself from it.  “Don’t look at me.  It’s your ass on the line here.”</p>
<p>Sam refuses to make eye contact with Elena for a moment, testing the weight of the beer bottle in his hand.  When he can finally look at her again, “Yeah, I’d do it all differently.”</p>
<p>Elena knows he’s really trying, but she also knows better how this all goes.  Smiling wanly, “Well, thank you for lying this time.  I appreciate it in <em>this</em> case.”</p>
<p>Sam chuckles nervously and takes another drink.</p>
<p>Nate nudges Elena’s arm.  “Come on, I thought I was going to get a show with you two getting drunk.  This is just depressing.”</p>
<p>Elena’s heart feels a squeeze of sadness.  He’s aiming so close to everything he’s already going through.  It’s time to move on.</p>
<p>Perking herself up, “You’re right.  You better be playing to win, Sam.”</p>
<p>She raises her bottle, trying to chug it in one go, forgetting how full it still was and that she’s not twenty-two any more.</p>
<p>“You’re on,” Sam says, following suit.</p>
<p>Several rounds later, all three of them are drunk, though no one is out of the game yet.</p>
<p>Looking at his empty bottle, Sam says, “Hey.  Truce?”</p>
<p>Elena could go a little further, but she doesn’t want to.  She wants to go to bed feeling pleasantly buzzed and wake up not feeling a thing of the evening.</p>
<p>“Sure.  Truce.”</p>
<p>They clink their empty bottles together.  The mess cleanup can wait until morning.</p>
<p>----------</p>
<p>Nathan’s hovering again.</p>
<p>“Will you stop playing mother hen with me?” Sam snaps.</p>
<p>Nathan steps off, but the look of worry doesn’t disappear.  Sam had no intention of staying long, but this makes him want to cut this visit even shorter.  Things are cramped enough on the boat with Chloe there too and a crew milling around to boot.</p>
<p>He didn’t really unpack and is in the process of shoving things back into his duffle bag when there’s a sharp rap behind him that causes him to practically jump out of his skin.</p>
<p>“Sorry, didn’t mean to startle you,” Elena apologizes.</p>
<p>“Well a man’s got a right to be jumpy after all that,” Sam tries to play it cool.</p>
<p>“I bet.”</p>
<p>Great, just what he needs: more sympathy.  He’s the one who screwed up; this is all rubbing it in his face in a way that makes him deeply uncomfortable.</p>
<p>“I’ll be out of your and Nathan’s hair just as soon as I can figure out my flight.”</p>
<p>Elena crosses her arms and her expression goes from concerned to annoyed.  Good.  That’s something Sam is used to.  “No one’s chasing you off.”</p>
<p>“I’m chasing me off.  There’s only so much guilt I can take from the pair of you.”</p>
<p>“It’s not guilt, Sam.”</p>
<p>Sam snorts, “Um, I know it pretty well.”</p>
<p>“Don’t pull the Catholic card.  You getting found out by Asav was scary for Nate.  It was scary for me too.”</p>
<p>Sam’s a little taken aback by Elena’s confession.  He’s reasonably sure Elena doesn’t hate him, but there’s no way she’s on the same level as Nathan with him, not after what he’s pulled.</p>
<p>“Seriously?” he says in disbelief.</p>
<p>“I get it, you’re not used to letting people in, but I don’t want anything bad to happen to you.  For Nate’s sake and your own.  Some of the stuff Nate and I went through back in the day was way too similar to what you and Chloe just did and not everyone walked away from that.”</p>
<p>Shit, now the guilt thing’s working.</p>
<p>“Sorry I put you two through all that,” Sam mumbles, shoving his hands in his pockets.  He’s got to get better at sounding like he means his apologies.</p>
<p>“Don’t put yourself through that,” Elena insists.  “I’m not saying don’t try to make up for lost time or take on less dangerous gigs.  I gotta say, Nate made me get the whole adrenaline junkie thing just – be careful.”  She finally cracks a smile, “Nate’s your brother and like you’ve said, we’re siblings now too.”</p>
<p>Sam’s taken aback for the second time.  He hadn’t expected Elena to take that to heart too.</p>
<p>“Hey, message received, Elena.  I’ll try not to die on you two again.”</p>
<p>“We both really appreciate it.”</p>
<p>He’s still not planning on sticking around, but it’s good to clear the air.</p>
<p>“So… what do little sisters like from their big brothers, aside from general peace of mind?”</p>
<p>Elena laughs, “You’re asking the wrong person, but I think the general rule of thumb is spoil the shit out of them.”</p>
<p>Sam chuckles, “I just gave you <em>several</em> grand, so consider that a lot of birthdays made up for.”</p>
<p>“A very generous belated wedding present.  A barge was just what was missing off our registry.”</p>
<p>Sam winces at that, he hopes unnoticed by Elena.  He never thought in a million years he’d regret missing a wedding.  At least Chloe mentioned she wasn’t there either.  He tries not to think about it.</p>
<p>“Should have told you two not to spend it all in one place.  That’s some good big brother advice,” Sam shakes his head, grinning.  He knows he’s supposed to do at least that much.</p>
<p>“What, you couldn’t trust me with it?” Elena teases.</p>
<p>Sam loves Nathan; he think he might actually respect Victor one day soon, but now?  He’d trust Elena with his life and his brother’s.</p>
<p>“Yeah, I trust you.”</p>
<p>Sam feels okay, waving goodbye to the pair of them getting smaller and smaller on the horizon.  He’s really looking forward to the next time.</p>
<p>----------</p>
<p>After the first failed year, there aren’t any other invitations from mom and dad for Sam at Thanksgiving.</p>
<p>On the one hand, Elena gets it.  He doesn’t exactly meet with any standard suburban life.  But on the other hand, she kind of expected them to be a little more generous, even knowing Sam would decline anyway.</p>
<p>Finally over her cold, Elena’s grateful the last of the holiday madness is over and they can slip into a quiet indefinite hiatus on the show with Cassie.</p>
<p>Nate’s upstairs working and her parents are playing with Cassie when there’s the front door opens and closes.  Still in a bit of a fog, Elena doesn’t think anything of it, but mom immediately bolts upright.</p>
<p>“Who is that?”</p>
<p>Curious now herself, Elena cranes her neck around to the front hall to see Sam, already half out of his jacket.  He gives a small wave upon noticing Elena.</p>
<p>Crap.  She’s gotten used to his unprompted drop-ins, and when it was on the boat and they didn’t have a baby, it was one thing.  It’s not the instinctual reaction she wants to have to her brother-in-law, but her parents are here.</p>
<p>“Just Sam,” she reassures her parents, then hurries to the front door.</p>
<p>“Hey,” she murmurs, arms folded.  “Did you tell Nate you were coming?”</p>
<p>“No,” Sam says slowly.  “Was I supposed to?”</p>
<p>Elena sighs.  Technically they haven’t laid out that ground rule yet, but prison or no, a middle-aged man should have more sense.</p>
<p>Trying not to sound too frustrated, “It’s just that my parents are in town –”</p>
<p>“Ah shit, sorry.  I was wondering about that other car in the driveway.”</p>
<p>He’s genuinely apologetic, which makes Elena feel worse for her irritation.  “It’s… fine.  We’ve gotten them past meeting you anyway.”</p>
<p>Sam chuckles nervously, “I’ll try not to mention any recent mishaps.”</p>
<p>“Please?” Elena doesn’t need to be pleading but between an infant, her parents, and her brother-in-law, she really prefers Cassie’s the one who gives her trouble.</p>
<p>“Patricia.  Jim,” Sam waves tentatively when in their view.  Elena follows in his shadow.  It’s not like she’d be much of a shield for him anyway.</p>
<p>“Nice to see you again, Sam,” dad says with forced joviality.</p>
<p>“Yes, quite the unexpected surprise,” mom says maybe a little too terse.</p>
<p>“Yeah, you know.  Work has me on a funny schedule.  Gotta drop in on my niece when I can.”</p>
<p>It’s a smooth recovery Elena thinks and an easy link to endear him to her parents.</p>
<p>“I suppose art dealers do have to cope with a great deal of uncertainty.  Not a very stable market,” dad says.</p>
<p>That was the professional front they agreed on for Sam.  Unfortunately, Sam’s brow furrows in confusion, but when he catches Elena’s pointed stare, he remembers.</p>
<p>“Right.  The fabulously wealthy are so indecisive about what goes where.  If they want it; do we spend five or six hundred grand?  You know, pocket change.”</p>
<p>It gets a polite chuckle out of her parents just as Nate appears in the living room, drawn by the louder conversation downstairs.</p>
<p>“I thought I heard you ass –” Nate doesn’t quite catch himself in time, but at least it’s partially muffled in Nate hugging Sam.</p>
<p>“Lucky for you, I’m here for Cassie,” Sam says as they break apart.</p>
<p>In spite of everything, Elena can freely admit she cares for her brother-in-law, but the level of love he has for Cassie almost forgives everything he’s done in Elena’s estimation.</p>
<p>Her parents might even be a little taken in by the Drake charm as Sam tries to get Cassie to take her bottle at dinner.  He’s doing alright, but she starts spitting it out, leaving Nate to recoup the mess.</p>
<p>Anything that gives Elena a bit of rest is good but she knows she’s made out okay that all her family is here to raise Cassie well.</p>
<p>In the wee hours of the morning Cassie wakes her and Nate up and when they’ve determined Cassie’s hungry, Elena takes her for a little walk.</p>
<p>Downstairs, she finds Sam awake on the couch scrolling through his phone.</p>
<p>“She didn’t wake you up, did she?”</p>
<p>“Eh, I’m a light sleeper anyway.”</p>
<p>Truth or lie, it’s a load off Elena’s mind.</p>
<p>Sam sits up and pats the seat next to him.  Elena gladly takes the offer, arms already tired.  “And um, sorry if I caused a problem with your folks earlier.”</p>
<p>“Don’t worry about it,” Elena waves him off awkwardly with a barely-free hand.</p>
<p>Sam snorts, “Your parents hate me.”</p>
<p>Diplomatically, “I’d imagine they find you concerning.  That’s not hating.”</p>
<p>“Victor found me ‘concerning.’  I can live with that.”</p>
<p>Elena laughs.  “Just try and give us a heads up these days.  I’d rather we get to have proper catchup time and not have to censor ourselves in front of my parents.”</p>
<p>“And Cassie,” Sam adds.  “Can’t have her getting the wrong idea about Uncle Sam.”</p>
<p>“What’s the <em>right</em> idea?”</p>
<p>“Ouch.”</p>
<p>Elena laughs again, causing Cassie to hiccup.  Privately, Elena knows Cassie will only have the right idea.</p>
<p>----------</p>
<p>Taking a taxi from the airport, Sam rolls down the window and considers getting a new bike.  It’s been years, but it distracts him from what waits and Nathan and Elena’s: Elena’s friends.</p>
<p>Meeting and dealing with her family was one thing: you can’t pick your family.  Sam’s all too deeply aware of the irony of that thought.  But people who are friends with Elena are likely to see right through him.</p>
<p>Fibbing with a couple of suburban retirees is one thing.  Fibbing to a couple of TV producers is another.  Sam thinks they’re both producers.  Maybe one of them is a journalist.  God, he’s so screwed.</p>
<p>The front door is opened so Sam doesn’t bother knocking, let alone dig for the spare key they gave him.  What’s even the point of him announcing a visit if anyone can waltz in any time?</p>
<p>“Eeeee,” Cassie comes toddling as fast as she can towards the door, the dog fast behind her.  “Hi Uncle Sam!” she yells, throwing her arms around his legs.</p>
<p>“Hey kid,” he says as he picks her up.  “They just let you run away like that these days?”</p>
<p>“I wasn’t running away,” she protests as Nathan comes around the corner.</p>
<p>“She heard you, you idiot,” Nathan rolls his eyes.  “We’re back in the living room.”</p>
<p>Sam takes a deep breath.</p>
<p>“It’s just Liz and Jane,” Nathan says in not a remotely reassuring way.</p>
<p>“Didn’t you say they hated you when you first met?” Sam says in a low voice over Cassie’s head.  “Mind you, they were probably right.”</p>
<p>“They like me fine now,” Nathan retorts, defensive.</p>
<p>“What a glowing review,” Sam rolls his eyes and head over.</p>
<p>Thank God Elena’s a grinning familiar face when they walk in.</p>
<p>“Sam, glad you made it!  This is Jane –” she points to the woman who’s at least smiling, “and Liz.”  Liz isn’t exactly frowning, but she doesn’t look as keen on him as her wife.</p>
<p>“Hey,” Sam gives small wave with the hand that isn’t bracing Cassie.</p>
<p>“Good to finally meet you,” Jane says cheerfully.  Sam’s going to try to stick with her for this visit if he can.</p>
<p>“Funny it took this long,” Liz adds.</p>
<p>“I’m all over the place most of the time,” Sam shrugs.  Liz’s has a laser focus on him that reminds him all too well of time on the beaches of Libertalia with Elena.  “And I’m sure you guys are busy too,” he offers.</p>
<p>Thankfully attention turns from him and back to the progress of the show’s next season.  Sam mostly remains quiet while the others talk; either playing fetch with Vicky or trying to entertain Cassie, though she prefers her parents.</p>
<p>“So Sam,” Liz says, snapping him back to reality.  “How come these two haven’t gotten you on their show?  Elena says you know your stuff.”</p>
<p>Sam’s mouth goes dry.  This is meeting the Fishers all over again.</p>
<p>“You know,” he starts to stammer nervously, “I like to stay independent of all this.”  They probably know the prison thing because there isn’t a person on earth who doesn’t.  Taking a gamble, “And an ex-con on the air probably wouldn’t look too great for them.”</p>
<p>Sam catches Elena opening her mouth to say something, but Liz gets there first.</p>
<p>“Trying to keep your career separate I get, but it’s bullshit if you or them get blacklisted for being in prison when half the crap these days isn’t justified.”</p>
<p>While Sam didn’t do it personally he was kind of an accessory, but he’s grateful for the cover he assumes Elena gave him.</p>
<p>“You serious?”</p>
<p>“Why not?”</p>
<p>Okay, Sam likes her, even if he’s still intimidated by her.</p>
<p>Cassie all but demands being the center of attention again from the others.  Sam excuses himself to raid the fridge.</p>
<p>Deep in some leftover dumplings, Elena appears at his side.  “You’re gonna ruin dinner.”</p>
<p>“Thank you, mother,” Sam says sarcastically.  Mouth still full of dumpling, “Your friends seem nice.  They don’t hate me, I think.”</p>
<p>“Surprising how not opening with a ton of lies does that.”  It’s a pointed comment, but there’s no malice in Elena’s tone.</p>
<p>“You don’t really want me on the show, do you?” he grimaces hoping she didn’t take her friend’s comment as an opening.</p>
<p>“Only if you want to.  Don’t listen to Liz.  I love her, but sometimes she gets ideas that are too big, even for us.”</p>
<p>Sam lets out a nervous exhale.  “Thanks Elena.  If I do get any ambitions to be on TV like Nathan, you’ll be the first to know.”</p>
<p>It’ll never happen, but he’s serious.</p>
<p>“Want to help with dinner since you won’t be tempted to sample?” Elena offers, starting to pull things from the fridge.</p>
<p>“I’m not much of a cook.”</p>
<p>“Neither are Nate and I, but I want him to sweat it out with Liz more.”</p>
<p>Sam snorts, “Does she still distrust him?”</p>
<p>“Not even a little bit but I want him to remember what it was like when we first started dating.”</p>
<p>“I’m sure he was a real winner.”</p>
<p>They both snicker as Elena stands are her toes to reach a bowl.  Sam grabs it for her.</p>
<p>----------</p>
<p>“Son of a bitch!”</p>
<p>Elena rounds the corner to find Sam leaning against the couch, frantically pressing buttons on the game controller, the screen blinking a furious ‘GAME OVER’.  Vicky’s on the floor with him, panting in uninterested bliss.</p>
<p>Elena chuckles.  “Never have I felt more like my mom.”</p>
<p>“You have a kid,” Sam points out, doubtful.  “Unless you were a perpetrator of foul-mouthed gaming as a youth too.”</p>
<p>“Is there any other kind?  And bit of a stretch calling yourself a ‘youth’.”</p>
<p>“I’m trying,” he grins.</p>
<p>It’s been too long since Elena’s gotten to play and watching Sam gives her the itch.  There’s only a short while before Nate gets back from picking up Cassie from her playdate, unless he’s detained by Bella’s mom.  Better him than him, she figures.</p>
<p>She grabs the other controller from the cabinet.  “Scooch over,” she taps Sam with her foot, finding an elevated seat on the couch.</p>
<p>“What’s your poison?  Cause I’ve been getting pretty good at all of these while you and Nathan are working.”</p>
<p>“Bold words from someone who’s only had about a week’s practice.  Guest’s preference.”</p>
<p>Sam sighs at her deference.  “The shooting one.  I definitely know my way around a gun better than you, real or virtual.”</p>
<p>Elena loads up the game.  Confidentially, “They aren’t even close to the same thing.  You’re on, Drake.”</p>
<p>She can’t help but snicker the whole time at Sam’s muttering as she snipes him from blind corners.</p>
<p>“Where are you?”</p>
<p>“Move the joystick down,” Elena says, not tearing her eyes from the screen.</p>
<p>“Now I’m just looking at the floor.  You trying to sabotage me?”</p>
<p>“Right, your controls are the other way.”</p>
<p>“What?”</p>
<p>“Don’t worry about it,” she says taking the final shot on Sam.  As her avatar does a victory dance, “You were saying?”</p>
<p>“Best two out of three.”</p>
<p>But Elena beats him handily at their second match too.</p>
<p>“Want to try racing?” she offers as innocently as possible.</p>
<p>Sam shoots her a death glare.  “Oh, it’s on Fisher.”</p>
<p>She pulls no punches on the second game but at the last second, Sam just barely edges her out for first place.</p>
<p>“HA!” he jumps up, way too confident in his victory.  “What did I tell you?”</p>
<p>“Beginner’s luck,” Elena huffs, annoyed that winning slipped from her fingers.</p>
<p>“What’s going on in here?” Nate asks, returning with Cassie in his arms, before Elena can unleash her own string of obscenities at Sam.</p>
<p>“Just showing sister here she’s not the only one in the family who can crush it at video games,” Sam smirks.</p>
<p>“Hey, I’m glad I finally have a challenge,” Elena says, pointedly staring at Nate.</p>
<p>Sam howls with laughter.</p>
<p>----------</p>
<p>There’s a buzzing and for the life of him, Sam can’t trace it.  As he’s tearing apart the room, the sound stops.</p>
<p>“Great, just when I need you to keep going,” he mutters.</p>
<p>But as he pushes back a discarded jacket, he uncovers his phone, blinking with text notifications.</p>
<p><strong>[Elena 11:09 AM]</strong> Hey</p>
<p><strong>[Elena 11:09 AM]</strong> Quick question</p>
<p><strong>[Elena 11:10 AM]</strong> What do you want for your birthday</p>
<p><strong>[Elena 11:10 AM]</strong> No boring answers like socks</p>
<p><strong>[Elena 11:11 AM]</strong> Try to avoid illegal suggestions for that matter too</p>
<p>Sam shakes his head and hits call.  Clearly Elena has more to say than can be done easily over texts.  He’s not his brother, but he’s too old for this shit.</p>
<p>The phone only rings once before Sam gets the disconnect sound.  He frowns at the screen, wondering if his signal’s going but there’s another buzz of a text notification.</p>
<p><strong>[Elena 11:22 AM] </strong>No calls. I’m in a very boring meeting 😪</p>
<p><strong>[Me 11:23 AM] </strong>Nice of you to be thinking of me while you’re bored out of your skull</p>
<p>He’s struggling to find the skull emoji when Elena responds.  Damn it.</p>
<p><strong>[Elena 11:24 AM]</strong> Don’t flatter yourself. I’m just tired of you and Nate saying you don’t want anything</p>
<p><strong>[Elena 11:25 AM] </strong>I love spoiling people</p>
<p><strong>[Elena 11:25 AM]</strong> Help a sister out</p>
<p><strong>[Me 11:26 AM]</strong> Let me think about it</p>
<p>There isn’t too much he wants or needs, at least materially that can be easily acquired.  His house is more or less set up for how little time he spends there.  And however loaded his brother and sister-in-law are these days, he’s going to ask them for something like a new motorcycle.</p>
<p>He muses on it for a few days and while waiting to board a flight, finally texts Elena back.</p>
<p><strong>[Me 3:22 PM] </strong>Maybe a look through Nathan’s notes about your old finds?</p>
<p><strong>[Me 3:23 PM]</strong> Thinking about getting out more</p>
<p><strong>[Me 3:26 PM]</strong> And some cupcakes from Cassie</p>
<p><strong>[Elena 3:55 PM]</strong> Can do 😄</p>
<p>The family makes a show of wrapping Nathan’s notebooks, but Sam’s surprised to find a book about motorcycles at the bottom of the stack of gifts.</p>
<p>“I couldn’t help myself,” Elena shrugs and grins.  “It’s not getting out more, but it <em>is</em> thinking about it.”</p>
<p>Sam’s touched, really.</p>
<p>“Thanks.  I don’t know what to say.”</p>
<p>“You’re welcome.”</p>
<p>The cupcakes are delicious too.</p>
<p>----------</p>
<p>“Can we line the shot up slightly higher?” Elena peers over the camera monitor.  “Make it look a little more dramatic?”</p>
<p>Not that Nate hanging off of things these days isn’t dramatic by itself.  Elena’s still game for scaling some buildings but she’s definitely not in her twenties and thirties any more.  So up the walls by himself Nate goes.</p>
<p>Nate notices her watching and winks.  Elena flushes like a teenager with a crush.  He really should know better than to flirt while they’re on the clock, not that she minds it.</p>
<p>Elena shakes her head and walks away in search of someone else who likes to take climbing structures upon themselves, despite repeated cautionary warnings from her parents.</p>
<p>“Cassie?” she calls out when sufficiently out of range of the mics.</p>
<p>“Over here!” Sam replies, still a bit further distant.  Thank goodness someone was free to keep an eye out.</p>
<p>Elena joins him in watching Cassie cautiously scale the wide-stepped walls of the ruin.  Torn between wanting to let her daughter become confident in her skills and wanting to keep her safe, Elena settles on giving Sam crap.</p>
<p>“And how long were you going to let my only daughter climb without restrictions?”</p>
<p>“You know I’d hustle up there if there was any real trouble.”  Sam sounds a little miffed, like she still doesn’t trust him after all these years.</p>
<p>Elena lets out an exhale.  She does know that.  Sam got Nate this far without a seriously cracked skull; he’d do the same, if not better for Cassie.</p>
<p>“Besides,” he grins.  “Now’s our chance to play good cop, bad cop.”</p>
<p>Elena snorts, “No one would ever mistake you for any kind of cop.”</p>
<p>“A man can dream, can’t he?”</p>
<p>“You’d rather go back to jail than anyone think you’re law enforcement.”</p>
<p>“You think?”</p>
<p>“Uncle Sam!  Mom!  See how far I got!” Cassie waves down, interrupting their conversation.</p>
<p>“Please be careful!” Elena calls reflexively back, anxieties getting the better of her.  Even without the camera lens, Elena knows she sees Cassie roll her eyes.</p>
<p>“Looking good, homie!” Sam yells up to Cassie.</p>
<p>That punctures the bubble of nerves in her stomach.  Elena snorts with laughter, “Homie?  I’m sorry, what year is it?”</p>
<p>“Hey, it’s not my fault I haven’t watched TV since the early 90s,” Sam protests.</p>
<p>Elena shakes her head, making a mental note to not let Sam live that down.</p>
<p>It looks like Cassie’s footing is slipping at one point as she slowly climbs down.  Both Elena and Sam simultaneously startle forward before catching themselves when it’s apparent Cassie’s fine.</p>
<p>“Scared us there for a second, didn’t she?” Sam laughs nervously.</p>
<p>“Yeah.”</p>
<p>Elena’s weirdly reassured he’s as nervous as her.   She chews her lower lip until until both of Cassie’s feet are planted firmly on the ground.</p>
<p>“Impressed?” Cassie asks, beaming, seemingly unconcerned by the adults’ stricken faces.</p>
<p>“Very, but remember you’re not allowed to do anything like your dad until you’re at least twenty,” Elena manages.</p>
<p>“Mooom,” Cassie protests, trying to catch sympathy from Sam.</p>
<p>“Don’t look at me kid, listen to your mom.”</p>
<p>Cassie sticks her tongue out in mild annoyance and heads back towards the shoot.</p>
<p>“She’s a good kid,” Sam says when she’s out of earshot.</p>
<p>Elena smiles, “I’m pretty proud of her.  Homie.”</p>
<p>“Okay, don’t be mean.”</p>
<p>They follow in Cassie’s wake back.</p>
<p>----------</p>
<p>“Sooo… how was it?” Sam asks.  It’s a completely innocent question.</p>
<p>Nathan scoffs.</p>
<p>“Get your head out of the gutter.  I wasn’t asking that.”</p>
<p>“There was a time you would have,” Nathan points out.</p>
<p>“Ew.  Really, Sam?” Elena leans back in her lounge chair.</p>
<p>“You don’t get siblings,” Sam counters.  He’ll take this crap from his brother, but not Elena.  “You have to bug the crap out of them, no matter how gross.”</p>
<p>“Fine, I don’t have lifelong experience with siblings, but I get <em>you</em>.  You’ve got to bug the crap out of anyone, no matter how gross,” Elena grins.</p>
<p>“You wound me,” Sam mock grabs at a dramatic chest injury.</p>
<p>Nathan snickers.  Thankfully, Sam can reach far enough to kick him in the shin in retaliation.  Annoyingly, Nathan doesn’t wince that much.</p>
<p>“To answer your original question,” Elena, as always, diplomatically ignores them, “The hotel was lovely.  It was a very thoughtful anniversary gift.  Thanks, Sam.”</p>
<p>“You’re welcome.  Knowing you two, you would have worked through it otherwise.  Kicking back and relaxing is just as important.”</p>
<p>“Hey, <em>I</em> know when to have a good time,” Nathan protests.</p>
<p>“Your wife knows better.”</p>
<p>Elena puts out a hand to high-five Sam.  He reciprocates.</p>
<p>“I truly cannot believe I’ve lived to see the day the two of you team up on me,” Nathan says with a grin even as shakes his head.</p>
<p>There’s an old tug that dampens Sam’s mood for a moment.  Even if he was never dead, he was as good as for so many years.  He missed too much and not just their legendary discoveries.</p>
<p>All that lost time that he’ll chase forever and never get back.</p>
<p>“I’ve got bad news for you, hon,” Elena says to Nathan, neither of them aware of Sam spacing out.  “If we both get to mind you, we both get to pick on you, just a little.”</p>
<p>There’s no quip or playful retaliation from Nathan to his wife, just a warm, fond smile.</p>
<p>Sam clears his throat, “Well happy anniversary anyway.  Here’s to a day I hope you remember fondly because I don’t.”</p>
<p>He realizes as the words leave his mouth he regrets making this about him.  Like he always fucking does.  Thankfully Elena and Nathan aren’t here to let him wallow.</p>
<p>Elena gives Sam a sad smile which makes him feel worse and better in equal measure.  “Wish you could have been there too.”</p>
<p>“Then I’d have to choose between you and Sully for best man.  Maybe I’d make you fight for it,” Nathan muses.</p>
<p>“You’re such an asshole,” Sam rolls his eyes, but like hell if he isn’t glad to have Nathan back being an annoying little brother.</p>
<p>“Maybe we can do a vow renewal,” Elena suggests to Nathan.  “A chance to get all dressed up again.  You could let me actually invite Chloe this time.”</p>
<p>Sam’s seen the wedding pictures.  Picturesque as it was, something else was missing.  “And this time you can do it proper.  In a church.”</p>
<p>Elena and Nathan roll their eyes at the same time.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Written for <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/robotwitch/pseuds/robotwitch">robotwitch</a>'s birthday.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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